Saddle staple strip and method of using it



Aug. 23, 1938. ca. F. LESLIE SADDLE STAPLE STRIP AND METHOD OF USING IT Filed July 27, 1935 haven-710W.

Patented Aug. 23, 1938 UNITED STATS SADDLE. STAPLE STRIP AND METHOD OF USING llll Application July 27, 1935, Serial No. 33,501

7 Claims.

This invention relates to insulated or saddle staples.

An insulated or saddle staple is a staple that carries under the head or intermediate part that connects the legs or prongs, a saddle consisting usually of a folded or saddle shaped strip of electrically insulating material, usually fibre, that straddles the conductor over which the staple is driven and insulates the staple from the conductor and also supports the staple from becoming harmfully imbedded into the insulation of the conductor. The legs of the staple usually pass through part of the saddle.

Heretofore insulated staples have been packaged in haphazard order like tacks or nails in the box or carton in which they are merchandized and are withdrawn singly from the carton by the user. Due to the shape of the staple the staples often interlock with each other so that it is difficult to withdraw a single staple from the carton. The sharp points of the staples project in haphazard order so that the fingers are often pricked in the act of withdrawing a staple. If the staples are scattered upon a surface so that they can be picked up readily staples are liable to become lost. Furthermore, it is often an awkward matter to hold the individual staple in position over the wire and to drive it with a hammer without striking the fingers with the hammer head. It is also desirable to package the staples in a carton having a display window so that the staples in the carton can be inspected through the window. This cannot be done readily with staples as they are now merchandized because, due to the haphazard order in which the staples are disposed in the carton, the points of some staples will project through such transparent window material as can be economically employed for the purpose.

It is an object of the present invention to eliminate or overcome all of the above enumerated objections by providing as a new article of merchandise a unitary collection or strip of saddle staples wherein the insulating material composing the saddles through which the staples are passed is integral in part throughout the strip, thereby holding all of the insulating staples of the strip together, the saddle strip bieing partly slitted or weakened between two consecutive staples and the remaining connecting insulating material being sufficiently strong to hold the staples connected during manufacture, shipment, sale and ordinary handling and yet being sufliciently brittle or rupturable so that the connecting portion between the slits can be broken readily by bending the strip transversely of its length and an individual staple thereby detached from the strip.

Another object is generally to improve the construction of insulated or saddle staples.

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a strip of insulated or saddle staples embodying the present invention.

Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the strip of staples of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a plan view of the strip of Fig. 2.

Fig. 4 is a view of the underside of the strip of Fig. 2.

Fig. 5 is an enlarged sectional View taken along line 5-5 of Fig. 2.

Fig. 6 is an enlarged sectional View taken along line 66 of Fig. 2.

Fig. '7 is a side view of the strip illustrating the manner of detaching an individual staple from the strip.

Fig. 8 is a view illustrating the manner in which the body of the strip acts as a handle to hold the partially detached end staple in position for driving it into a supporting surface.

Fig. 9 is a perspective view of a windowed carton for the staple.

The staple as illustrated in Fig. 6 is provided with a pair of spaced parallel legs or prongs it] that are integral with an intermediate or head member l2 and are provided with sharp points 54 at the free ends thereof. The staple preferably although not necessarily is composed of metal ribbon so that it is wider across than in the plane Y of the legs.

The staple at the upper end or head If is provided with an electrically insulating saddle l6 of generally inverted channel or U shape in cross section. The saddle is composed of a flexible strip of insulating material, usually fibre, sufiiciently strong for the purpose and yet sufficiently brittle and rupturable for a small cross section thereof to be broken or torn apart as will be explained hereinafter.

The strip is folded longitudinally of itself with the ends disposed in abutting relation along the line H! immediately under the heads I2 and provided with an inverted channel 20 disposed between the legs, the channel having tubular side walls formed of outer and inner walls 22 and 24, respectively, which are spaced apart and receive between them the legs of the staple. The saddle is provided with upper and lower perforations 26 and 28, respectively, through which the legs of the staple are passed. While the above described type of saddle is preferred there are other types of saddles not considered necessary to'describe which also can be used with the present invention.

For the purpose of the present invention the saddle strip i6 is continuous throughout a given number of staples as, for instance, ten staples. Thus all of the staples are connected together as one strip through the integral staddle strip. The saddle strip between consecutive staples is weakened so that a staple with its associated saddle can be separated from the remainder of the strip. For this purpose the sides of the saddle are provided with slits Bil, the slits passing substantially completely through both sets of walls 22, M on opposite sides of the saddle but terminated in the appproximately fiat upper portion of the saddle so that both the outer and inner folds of the saddle strip are connected integrally together by necks 32 located between the ends of the slit, as indicated in Fig. 5. Enough material is left in the necks between the opposite slits so that the staples of the strip are firmly connected together to withstand the necessary handling and to provide the strip with substantial rigidity and yet the material is sufficiently weak so that the connecting material can be broken or torn to detach a staple from the strip. The strip is sufficiently rigid to retain a straight form yet it can be bent into an arcuate form, if desired, in a direction to open the slits without rupture of the necks.

Fig. 7 illustrates the manner of detaching a staple. The end staple of the strip is raised to spread apart the lips of the slit between it and the next consecutive staple and to bend the connecting material of the saddle strip. By moving the end staple upwardly sufficiently as throughout or more and then sidewise, the connecting material breaks or tears readily to release the staple. The break is sharp and clean. Fibre is well adapted for the purpose as it is somewhat brittle especially when dry; and the sharp ends of the slits facilitate the breaking or tearing of the necks.

A number of the strips constructed as described can be packed in a carton 3 5, see Fig. 9, where the strips are positioned one beside the other, the carton having a depth approximately equal to the overall length of the staple. The carton can be provided with a window 36 through which a portion of the strips can be observed. The window if desired can be covered with some transparent material not shown although this is not necessary, ordinarily, since the portions 38 of the top wall at the top and bottom of the window overlie a sufficient extent of both ends of the strips to retain them securely in place.

As thus arranged and packaged it is easy to withdraw a strip and to break off individual staples as needed without likelihood of the remaining staples becoming lost. A strip of staples can be held in the hand and individual staples broken off upon need, thereby, for instance, facilitating the stapling of a length of electric conductor. The strip of staples greatly facilitates the driving of the staples without danger of striking the fingers with a hammer. The end staple can be partially bent out of the line of the strip as illustrated in Fig. 8 and the remainder of the strip used as a handle to hold the end staple over a conductor it while striking the head of: a staple with a hammer 42 to drive it into the supporting structure M. After the points of the staple have been driven into the supporting surface sufficiently for the staple to stand alone the strip can be broken away from the staple and the staple driven home.

I claim:

1. As a new article of manufacture, a unitary integral collection of saddle staples in the form of a strip of predetermined length of saddle material, carrying a predetermined number of staples the saddles of which have weak separable connections between them.

2. As a new article of manufacture, a unitary integral collection of saddle staples in the form of a strip of predetermined length of saddle material, carrying a predetermined number of staples comprising a relatively stiff fibre saddle strip that is continuous throughout the staples, the strip having weakened parts located between adjacent staples permitting detachment of the staples from the collection.

3. As a new article of manufacture, a unitary integral collection of saddle staples in the form of a strip of predetermined length of saddle material, carrying a predetermined number of staples comprising a saddle strip that is continuous throughout the staples, the strip having weakened parts located between adjacent staples, the weakened parts being readily ruptured manually to detach a staple from the strip and also being flexible to permit the displacement of a staple from its normal position in the collection without rupture of the flexed weakened part.

4. As a new article of manufacture, a unitary integral collection of saddle staples in the form of a strip of predetermined length of saddle material, carrying a predetermined number of staples comprising a saddle strip that is continuous throughout the staples, the strip being composed of relatively stiiT rupturable material of the nature of fibre and having opposed slits in its opposite sides between consecutive staples and parts of reduced cross-section between the slits which integrally connect the saddles of the staples and are relatively weak and capable of being ruptured readily to permit detachment of a staple from the collection.

5. As a new article of manufacture, a unitary integral collection of saddle staples in the form of a strip of predetermined length of saddle material, carrying a predetermined number of staples comprising a fibre saddle strip of channel cross-section that is continuous throughout the staples and has double side walls between which the legs of the staples are passed, said side walls being discontinuous between adjacent staples whereby the saddle strip is weak between such staples and can readily be ruptured permitting detachment of a staple from the strip.

6. The method of using a saddle staple strip consisting of a series of staples in a saddle strip that has weakened parts between the staples, which method comprises positioning a staple out of the plane of the series by bending the saddle strip between said staple and the next adjacent one of the strip without detaching said staple from the strip, holding the positioned staple in driving position by the body of the strip used as a handle for the positioned staple, driving the positioned staple, and then severing the staple from the strip by rupturing the weakened part of the saddle strip between the staple and the body of the strip.

7. A package of insulated staples, the package comprising a container having a window in one wall thereof, the window being shorter in at least one dimension than the corresponding dimension of the wall and the wall having windowless sections at the opposite ends of the window, and insulated staples in the container under the window comprising a plurality of strips of insulating material extended under the window and both said windowless sections and a series of staples in said strips spaced along the length thereof, said strips between the successive staples having weakened portions that connect the successive staples so that they cannot escape through the opening, the weakened portions being weak to permit an individual staple being intentionally detached from the strip for use.

GEORGE F. LESLIE. 

